


The Bluff is Eroding

by Fuil_agus_deora



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Angst and Feels, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Please don’t kill me, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Season 3 Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:54:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26289808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuil_agus_deora/pseuds/Fuil_agus_deora
Summary: The tides cough up fatal love.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 3
Kudos: 57





	The Bluff is Eroding

**Author's Note:**

> I love feedback! I love comments! I want to hear your thoughts.

_Rocky shores underneath night skies, the moon above illuminating everything. Dark ocean waters swirling as arms tightened, covered in crimson, calmly clinging to each other after their last dance._

_Coldness and a brief moment of pain enveloped the two men as their bodies hit the surface._

_They knew their fate. There was no use fighting. They could surrender at peace, together. Couldn't live with, couldn't live without. Their emotions now exposed, vulnerable._

_A small hint of a smile as hands gripped more onto wet shirts, eyes closing. One last glimpse of bloodied teeth, the water surrounding stained a deep red._

_Engulfed with one last breath and tips of antlers disappeared beneath the sea._

________________________________ 

Sirens interrupted the sound of waves shortly after the sun had risen.

The Great Red Dragon had been defeated, and the slaughtered body of Francis Dolarhyde remained on the pavement. He was almost bled out, going into the first stages of decay, completely still in time. Blood was everywhere, not just Dolarhyde's.

Jack Crawford had a creeping suspicion he knew who did this. After all, Will Graham helped Hannibal escape for real earlier. 

Yet he felt betrayed in a sense. Yes, he knew they weren't exactly close, but he had expected honesty. Will lied to his face all this time, about Hannibal, about himself. How could he not feel disappointed?

 _This was his fault_ , Jack thought. No, he knew. He knew that this was a risk he shouldn't have taken, bringing Will back. Letting him see Hannibal when he knew they had such a complicated and destructive relationship.

He had made the same mistake. Again.

Drying blood led to the cliff, and then stopped. He knew it couldn't be Dolarhyde's. That suspicion was starting to become constricting, like a snake was squeezing the sureness out of him. He could feel his throat become dry, zoning out slightly as Jimmy Price and Brian Zeller explained the wounds on the Dragon, Tooth Fairy, whatever.

"Clearly, someone tore his throat out with his teeth," Price mentioned. "Guessing that was Hannibal, considering... Yeah, you get it." He paused for a moment. "However, the angle that the throat was torn out doesn't match the slit across his stomach. That would've been almost impossible." The man reached for an evidence bag.

Zeller turned to Jack. "He's saying that our favorite cannibal didn't do this alone."

Jack sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. His suspicions were confirmed. No doubt in his mind now. "Will." 

"Prints match, Jack." Price commented, holding up the knife and dropping it into the bag. 

"I figured, Price," the older man almost snapped, letting go and dropping his hand in a subtle defeat. "I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated." Jack gulped and wet his dry lips, glancing around before facing the two. He didn't really want to know, but he knew he had to ask. "The thing is though... What happened after?"

His colleagues' eyes met for a second, a shine of mutual contemplation before meeting Jack's. "We're still figuring that out, but everything suggests that they went over the cliff. It doesn't seem forced. If it was, there would have been signs of a struggle." Zeller added.

Jack blinked, taking a second to process. "So you're saying that they fell together?" For a completely plausible reason, he couldn't believe his ears. But he knew that there had been more at play there. It wasn't just a cat and mouse game anymore. It hadn't been for a long, _long_ while.

"Uh... That is exactly what I'm saying." Zeller replied hesitantly, eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion briefly. 

Price butted in, passing the evidence bag off to someone who was passing by their little group. "Logistically, someone could survive a fall like that, but not without a couple broken bones." He paused once again, thinking on how to bring this up. Instead, he sighed before speaking. "They lost a lot of blood, Jack. They could still be in the water. If blood loss and drowning didn't kill them, hypothermia certainly did."

Jack pursed his lips in thought, eyes drifting downward as he reached into his pocket for his phone. "Get the boats." He told the two, starting to walk off. "I need to make a couple calls."

________________________________ 

A lithe, pale hand reached for the phone as ringing filled the empty room. Picking it up, a slow, drawling voice answered. "Hello?"

"Ah, Dr. Du Maurier." The caller commented, pondering for a few moments. "I was hoping we could talk."

Bedelia parted her lips in annoyance at Jack's voice. "After all this time, the bureau still cannot leave me alone." She paused, her eyes shifting to the window. "About what, Agent?" 

"Will Graham."

The woman's lips twisted into a soft sneer, but she sighed, her eyes now drifting to her hands. The same hands that ended a man's life. "What I expected. Fine, but I won't be able to tell you much."

Jack raised an eyebrow at that comment. "From my understanding, Graham wasn't your patient." 

"No, but Hannibal was." Pause. "And as much as I am exhausted by the man, I cannot break the rules of past doctor-patient confidentiality. Even if he was planning to eat me, and probably still is."

"I'd stick to the _was_ , Dr. Du Maurier." Jack added frankly. 

"Oh? I thought Hannibal escaped with Will Graham’s help?"

“He did, but we believe that both are deceased.” The man stated, fixing his hat. “Your last conversation with Will, what did he say?” 

Bedelia bit down on her tongue, tasting bitterness in her mouth. “The last time Will Graham and I spoke... For context, he realized what Hannibal’s feelings toward him truly were. Before he left our last session, he told me to pack because, and I quote, meat was back on the menu.” A sharp inhale could be audible. “I assume he had sorted out his own emotions toward Hannibal for the final time.” 

Jack still couldn’t believe it. He needed clear confirmation. His mind wandered to what Will had told him after the incident, after Hannibal was on the run. On how Will had called Hannibal, wanting the Ripper to run, to leave. He had wanted to run away with him. That was when he knew for certain that Will was dealing with more feelings than he originally thought. “And... What were these emotions?” 

“He came to the conclusion that Hannibal was in love with him,” the psychiatrist explained, her voice still as steady and monotone as ever. “When I asked Will if he felt the same... He didn’t reply.”

“An inconclusive answer.” Jack responded. 

“No, at the time, he wasn’t ready to accept what he felt. In his own silent way, he was in love too.” She let her fingers slide over the rim of her glass on her desk as she spoke. “It is a very... unconventional relationship and I would keep that in mind.”

Jack's grip on his phone faltered as he peeked over his shoulder at the crime scene. He almost didn't hear Bedelia speak again. 

"Is that all?" The woman asked, a smidge of irritation detected in her calm voice. She should be relaxed, but she couldn't seem to. 

As he sighed, Jack bit down on his tongue slightly. His hand clenching, feeling the absence of the wedding ring that he tossed into the Italian river three years ago. "Yes, thank you." 

There was a hum in return, and then the click. The phone parted from his ear, and Jack headed back to the scene in silence.

________________________________ 

It had been a couple hours by now, and the boats were still searching. Jack kept glancing at his phone every now and then as he stood on the edge of the bluff, partly for Alana, partly because he was anticipating a call about another murder, in case Hannibal and Will were still alive.

Part of him hoped, at least. 

He knew he was going to have to call Molly at some point, to inform her of what happened. The situation with Will, her options if they find the bodies. God, he had to make so many phone calls today, never mind the paperwork. He was already tired.

It wasn't until a few more hours passed that a commotion on one of the boats started. Gathering, pulling. A moment of chaos. 

Two bodies had been recovered.

________________________________ 

There was something peaceful about the dullness of once-predatory eyes, Jack found. 

He didn't know if he was thinking about Hannibal, or Will. 

The bodies hadn't decayed much, and the chillness of the water had certainly helped. The two seemed almost frozen in time, first found still clinging somewhat to each other, like they had been interrupted during a moment of realization. Now separated and ready to embalm. There was no need for a forensic autopsy, the wounds and cause of death were apparent. 

For the first time in a while, he felt untroubled as he looked upon the corpses of his former friends. 

And it didn't feel real. 

Emotions were a funny thing. 

Jack licked his dry lips slightly. He would be lying if he said that he didn't expect the man to be faking his death, like that one fateful night. His fingers reluctantly grasped the pure white cloth on Hannibal's table, pulling it over the vacant stare of the disgraced psychiatrist before moving onto his old co-worker. 

Rigor mortis was starting to set as he made it to Will's side, glancing at the deep wound on his cheek before sighing. He wished things could've been different, but Will walked down this path mostly on his own, by Hannibal's side. Still, Jack couldn't help but feel responsible in a way. He closed his eyes at an intrusive thought, stopping it midway before finishing. 

He pulled the cloth over the man's pale, empty face with no hesitation, unable to even look anymore.

________________________________ 

“Let the dead be dead, Jack.”

Jack Crawford leaned back in his chair as he sat across from Alana Bloom in her office at the Baltimore Psychiatric Facility for the Criminally Insane. She had returned after Jack called, updating her. "Molly doesn't want to claim the body."

Alana let her shoulders fall as she watched the man across from her, leaning forward as habit. "You can't force her. She most likely knew, in her own way, that Will wasn't hers to claim." She paused, a quiet snort coming from her as something crossed her mind. "Hannibal can't make good on his promise now." She adjusted her blazer, straightening it out. "Freddie Lounds is going to have a field day."

Jack chuckled, a split-second of a grin on his lips, a flitter of sadness in his eyes as his smile fell. "What do you suggest I do then?" He asked, a sense of heaviness on his broad shoulders. He was lost, practically crawling in the dark and fumbling around blind.

Alana let her blue eyes, full of steel, drift to the large windows where sunlight was flooding into the room. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she dwelled, turning her head back to Jack after a few moments. "Do what you need to do."

________________________________ 

_Dog roses, deep red carnations, scarlet sage, lupine, and butterfly weed decorated the vast cathedral among candles. The waves crashing against rocks could be heard in the distance. Moonlight drowned the darkness fire couldn't reach._

_Footsteps. Fingers brushing against fingers, not fully intertwining as eyes met. Specks of crimson shined underneath the radiance, suspended on skin. This was a silent exchange. Nothing needed to be said and everything needed to be expressed._

_A soft smile made it onto Will's lips, wistful as he stood aside Hannibal on the edge of the cliff once again. He could taste the salt and iron in his mouth. Hannibal returned the smile, a glint of admiration and slight regret about the situation in his dark eyes._

_It was nearly tranquil. Souls bared like an animal bares a maw full of teeth._

_A violent stillness was present until both felt the ground crumble underneath their feet, curling into an embrace as their bodies joined the ocean surface for the final time._

Jack pinched out the flame on the wick.


End file.
